La wild boar selection hunting stops throughout the Piedmont region and in Alessandria, according to Roberto Prando, president of the Atc Al 3 and Al 4, the abatement plans have also been suspended. The cause is the coronavirus emergency. Selection hunting is a hunting activity, outside the “classic” hunting period which, on the other hand, with an annual hunting calendar covers the months from September to December. It is managed by hunting areas, ie the Atc, and is bound to an annual selection plan that each district sends to the regional council for approval. The annual selection plan provides, on the basis of the censuses carried out, objectives of abatement fixed numerically on the basis of the number surveyed, species by species.
Selection hunting is entrusted to hunters. The slaughter plans, on the other hand, do not constitute hunting activities. They are extraordinary actions coordinated by the Province, decided on the basis of damage reports and activated by hunting guards who can also make use of the owners and conductors of the funds. Until 3 April, the selection hunt, as we said, was suspended. Even the abatement plans, says Roberto Prando, “sThey have been stopped due to the emergency and we do not know when it will be possible to resume. We hope towards June but there is no certainty ”.
The ATCs cannot even carry out the censuses necessary for the selection plans. Ispra (Institute for the protection of the environment, editor's note) has authorized the ATC to use the census of previous years. According to Coldiretti, with this suspension, dictated by force majeure, wild boars for agriculture and road safety risk becoming an even bigger problem. The agricultural association calls for "extraordinary culling plans to avoid worse troubles" (Newspaper 7)